Hi
Thank you for your replies to my last post.
I've now been doing a bit more researching...
It's a choice between:
JVC 505 for around £640
Sony SR90 for around £522
Sony HDR-HC3 for around £720

or paying the extra and getting the Sony HDR SR1 for £830

Is it worth the extra for the SR1? The advice was maybe go for HC3 instead of JVC 505 - is the quality much better as it doesn't have the hard drive features etc?

I very much appreciate this!
nicola

[mmace]

the HC3 is £700 from Amazon (less at purely gadgets but I wouldn't trust them, but that's another story)

[redsox_mark]

Comparing the HC3 and the SR1:

- Both are excellent
- The HC3 is slightly better in overall quality (but so close that you would be hard pushed to tell).
- The SR1 has some useful additional features: better manual controls (e.g. focus ring), mic input, headphone input.
- The SR1 is AVCHD format, which today has virtually no editing support (though that will change in future). The HC3 is HDV, which has lots of editing options.
- The SR1 has the features which a HDD cam brings (e.g. being able to do simple edits on the cam itself, easily find particular clips, no need to pause to replace a tape, etc).
- Note that tape is not neccessarily a bad thing.. it is a robust format, and gives you an instant archive if you save the tapes.

To decide, consider:

- Are you likely to want more manual control, and to use external microphones?
- Are you willing to be on the "bleeding edge" and have paitence in working with a format which doesn't have support yet?
- How much do you want HDD, and why?

Get the Sony HC3 - Incredible camera. The SR1 is bigger and the picture quality is not as good.

[Moviebuff]

I think it all depends on your expectations or what you require from your camcorder.

The hi-def Sony's will win on PQ - there is no doubt about that. I own the JVC MG505, and faced a similar dillema, before I purchased. I considered ease of burning to DVD, control method and storage, and the JVC swung it for me. I preferred the JVC's control aspect & ease of use, and the PQ is far from shabby. You can instantly review & delete shots, and is simplicity to transfer over to your PC and burn to disk. Editing takes longer than DV based material, but there are decent MPEG packages that make it a fairly easy task.

I havn't regretted buying it for one moment.

[Moviebuff]

Originally Posted by mmace

the HC3 is £700 from Amazon (less at purely gadgets but I wouldn't trust them, but that's another story)

Agreed - paid for the JVC as it was quoted as being "In stock" - and after a week of it not turning up, I phoned them and was told it should be in stock within 3 weeks!!!

They are cheap - but there is always the downside that they will more than likely not have to send in the first place ....